Carl Roberts 
Carl shares his overview of Reed Pop’s fantastic MCM Comic Con London 2019
The yearly May MCM Comic-Con at London’s Excel Centre has been and gone. It has been yet another great event that brought out the stars, behind the scenes artists and the best in Cosplay activity. Thousands descended to the event which included on the sofa interviews with Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier himself, Sebastian Stan and Sheriff Hopper/Hellboy David Harbour.
Both actors took to the stage and gave a rousing, enlightening and at times, quite hilarious interactions with both the interviewers and the assembled fans who gathered to hear what they had to say and to answer the questions burning inside them.
David Harbour provided the biggest tease during his times of the sofa. Appearing with a large bushy beard, Harbour announced to the audience that he had been cast in the MCU’s upcoming ‘Black Widow‘ solo movie. Although he cannot say who he is playing, many references to him playing ‘Some THING’ and that ‘THE THING he is playing’ he couldn’t possibly tell us led us all to read between the lines. Could he be hinting at the possibility that FINALLY, the MCU proper is bringing us the Fantastic Four? That the Marvel Universe will bring us their interpretations of the heroic team? And integrate them within their worlds they have already created over the past eleven years? And to finally do the characters justice? The excitement level just got dialled up higher than before.
Many comic book writers and artists attended the proceedings too with the likes of Andy Diggle and Whilce Portacio in attendance answering questions from the interviewer and from the audience. Many interesting insights came from the former editor of legendary British comic, 2000AD.
Other celebrity guests included Stephen Amell, Emily Bett Rickards, David Ramsey and Tyler Hoechlin, who not only sat and answered questions during the ‘Arrow‘ panel event but also took the time to sit out on the sofa in the live stage area and answer questions about his career including his winning turn as Michael Sullivan JR in ‘The Road To Perdition‘ back in 2002, his time playing Superman on the ‘Supergirl‘ TV show and of course, giving his insights and sharing stories of his time playing Derek Hale on ‘Teen Wolf‘
Another highlight to be had came in the form of a showing of the 1982 film ‘The Dark Crystal‘. I have to admit to having never seen the film before now and was pleasantly surprised at the enjoyment I gained from it. I had always thought the film was for kids, a Muppet movie but was quite taken aback by how dark it is. It was a surprise but a welcome one. After the film had finished, however, we were treated to an in-person interview and question and answer session from acclaimed fantasy illustrator, Brian Froud, who worked on the film. He spoke quite lovingly of Jim Henson and Frank Oz, of how they wanted the world they created to look like and how Froud’s paintings had inspired them in their writing of the film, about how Henson chose him as the concept artist for the film. Froud also spoke of the upcoming Netflix series, the prequel ‘The Dark Crystal: Age Of Resistance‘. Although he wouldn’t give much away, we did manage to learn that the creatures and backgrounds in the show will be a mix of green screen work and actual back to basics puppetry amongst some CGI effects mixed in.
Many gaming companies were there to showcase their wares. The best one, in my opinion, was the game ‘Pacer‘ that is coming out on all platforms later this year. Our own Phil Roberts gained an interview with one of the games chief designers and played the game for himself. Phil was extremely impressed with the gameplay, the graphics and the overall enjoyment the game has to offer. And naturally, he came first in the race he played!
Retro gaming was heavily featured at the exhibition also, with classic arcade games being able to play alongside consoles from down the years. Nintendo, Amiga, Sega and Atari were all featured in the exhibition, just slightly away from the PlayStation VR display. And, I have to admit, I never expected to see Kylo Ren playing an arcade machine alongside Fat Thor from ‘Avengers: Endgame‘! I kid you not, dear reader, it actually happened! And I saw it with my own two eyes! It was wonderful to see people from all walks of life either dressed up for the convention or in their everyday clothes mixing together without any hint of trouble or mocking. The convention was a bringing together of all walks of life, from casual follower to hardcore cosplayer and was a joy to behold.
Many stands were there offering various items for sale ranging from Viking horns up to rare and discontinued figures, vehicles and playsets. Believe me, yours truly here could have taken out a mortgage and still missed out on some fantastic merchandise and collectables. I could have easily spent a fortune. One of the best stands there had for sale, various paintings by an artist with a fantastic eye for detail and I could easily have bought his entire stock and taken them home, framed them and decorated my home with them. His colours were so vibrant and eye-catching that I wouldn’t be surprised if he was commissioned somewhere down the line to design either a custom piece for Disney or Lucasfilm for either private display in their offices or for an advertising campaign for an upcoming movie. He really is that good.
PO-ZU shoes had their area set out brilliantly, as usual, showcasing their exclusive line of Star Wars footwear. All their products are environmentally friendly and were a great bargain for the gathered masses. Again, I was extremely tempted into buying several pairs of their exquisite trainers but, unwisely decided to hold off. It also didn’t help that I have size 13 UK feet! If you are interested in grabbing yourself a fantastic and officially licenced pair of footwear, either for yourself, husband, wife etc, I would recommend you look at their website and the photos below.
And of course, no Comic-Con would be the same without an appearance by the legendary Mark Hamill. Sadly, the actor couldn’t be there this time around but did send a very nice video message wishing us all the fun we could handle and a look at his new role in season two of the show ‘Knightfall‘. Even though the message was brief, lasting but a minute and change, it was great to see him there in some capacity.
I extend my thanks to the Organisers of the event for allowing us press access to the event, to the hard working staff there for making us and every guest feel extremely welcome and to all the assembled guests and cosplayers for their unwavering support across all and every platform. It genuinely an amazing event and one I can’t wait to experience again.
To book your tickets to the next MCM Comic Con event near you, check out the official MCM website here:
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Future of the Force News Editor,Liverpool F.C fan,Halloween Movie Fan, Friday The 13th movies fan, Star Wars Fan, Star Trek Fan.
